Need Reel to Reel Tape Primer Sources

Jwong,

3 years ago i looked for a place to get my Reel to Reel questions answered, and there was not a place like that.

now there is a place where there is both very good information and lots of real knowledgable people to answer questions;

The Tape Project Forum

the best place to start on that forum is the FAQ here;

beginners guide to tape basics

then there is a separate forum on raw tape here;

raw tape forum

OTOH Atmasphere is also a great resource too....

I've been browsing on that forum but thanks for pointing me to the tape basics thread. I visited an audio repair shop today to pay a friendly visit, the owner went over a little of what is invloved in setting bias and said I could watch him do one of my decks when I was ready (he said I needed a calibration tape, a scope, an oscillator and an ac voltage meter if I wanted to do it myself). I want to make some dubs of some of the more valuable tapes I have so I can listen to them without fear of the tape breaking or other mishaps.

There was an ad on craigslist locally for an A/V company having a garage sale, one of the items they listed was a tascam br-20, I figured out the name of the company and gave them a call before the sale and it turns out they had a pair, but they wanted $1000 each, that's crazy talk. I decided to go the second day of the sale (today), the decks were very clean and the heads looked spotless with basically no wear at all. I told him I would give him $200 each and was suprised to walk out of there with the pair for $450. Listening to an early rca perez prado 2 track, sounds good. Let the sickness begin!

You will need an instruction manual for that deck in order to set bias and EQ. This is for record, no problem on playback.

I finally took the time to read the "beginners guide to tape basics" on the tape project website (as noted by Mikelavigne, thanks!). I am glad that I have been careful to not play a collection of vintage tapes I acquired and will go over each of my decks carefully inspecting the tape path components. I would highly recommend anyone interested in preserving and mainting their decks and tapes to read that thread, it is a great reference

There's a lot out there, here's just a couple for example.

http://www.digitalprosound.com/Htm/TechStuff/2000/Aug/AnalogTape.htm
http://www.tangible-technology.com/tape/baking1.html